Staff Assembly, Integration & Test (AIT) Engineer Full Time NEW

About the Team: 

The Interplanetary Sciences Program was established to expand access to scientific exploration across our solar system. Its mission is to make planetary research faster, more affordable, and more capable than ever before by rethinking how science missions are designed, built, and operated. The program aims to enable scientists to send instruments to distant worlds without decades of development or prohibitive costs. By creating a sustainable model for interplanetary exploration, we are transforming space science from an occasional event into a continuous process of discovery that accelerates knowledge, broadens participation, and inspires the next generation of explorers. 

About the Role:

Relativity Space’s Interplanetary Sciences Program is developing a privately funded science mission to Mars targeted for 2028. This mission will map shallow subsurface ice and geology, characterize Martian weather, enable next generation onboard processing and communication, and demonstrate a new philanthropic public-private partnership model for space science.  

We’re hiring one Staff Assembly, Integration & Test (AI&T) Engineer to own the integration and test campaigns for the Mars orbiter. You’ll define how the spacecraft and its payloads are assembled, verified, and prepared for launch, then lead that work hands-on with the engineering team. This is a full-time position based at Relativity Space HQ in Long Beach, California. 

What you’ll do:

• Own the spacecraft integration flow and test campaigns, from component and subsystem testing through vehicle-level environmental testing and launch preparation. 
• Develop assembly and integration procedures, test plans, acceptance criteria, and verification approaches with systems and discipline leads. 
• Plan and lead any system level thermal, vibration, EMI/EMC, functional, and end-to-end integrated spacecraft payload tests. 
• Design the mechanical and electrical ground support equipment, tooling, and test setups needed for the campaign. 
• Identify and establish the required infrastructure for the integration campaign, from test assets to cleanrooms. 
• Lead test readiness reviews, execute tests, assess results, resolve discrepancies, and drive failures to root cause and closure. 
• Shape the spacecraft design while it is still evolving by identifying assembly, access, handling, and testability risks early. 
• Maintain clear hardware configuration, assembly and test records, and verification evidence through delivery and launch. 

About You: 

• Bachelor’s degree in aerospace, mechanical, electrical, or a related engineering field
• 7+ years of hands-on experience integrating and testing spacecraft or similarly complex flight hardware
• Experience leading spacecraft or payload integration and environmental test campaigns, including thermal vacuum and vibration testing
• Ability to write and execute test plans and procedures, assess test data, and close verification requirements
• Strong hardware troubleshooting skills and the judgment to make sound technical decisions under schedule pressure
• Experience working across hardware, software, and systems engineering teams to take a flight system from development through delivery

Nice to haves, but not required:

• Spacecraft-level AI&T ownership on a deep-space or other one-of-a-kind mission
• Optical communications, precision pointing, or other tightly coupled payload integration
• Electrical ground support equipment, automated test systems, and hardware-in-the-loop testing
• Cleanroom operations, ESD controls, and flight hardware handling
• Launch site integration or launch campaign support